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RPlog:Trial by Fire
---- ' ' Deploying from the belly of the beast once more Krieg checks out the new fighter. It had to go through some refurbishing and upgrades, but the ship was as good as new in his eyes. Kicking the thottle to max he does a barrel roll followed by a cuban eight to get a feel of the handling characteristics, then darts out towards the depths of space on the assigned training route. Calling across the comm to the squadrons he simply says, "All squadrons on patrol; continue sweeps and report back to your command vessel every 30 standard minutes. Do not delay. Precision is rewarded, sloppyness is not." ' '''' Back in the cockpit again, it's almost something to hum, but she doesn't - thankfully, as it would be a form of punishment to those who have any sort of tone acuity. "Aye sir," is Dante's spoken reply as she waits for her squadron to launch, form up, and then pair up. She looks each fighter over, especially Alpha-4 due to the amount of shield damage it took in the previous day's battle. Opening a channel to Molokai she asks, "All lights green for go?" ' ' Exiting from hyperspace, the pilot of the lone X-wing checks the readouts and brings up shields as soon as the stars reform into single specks and not the streaks of light. Far from the Capital Ships and out of the sensor range, the X-wing pilot knows where to find a TIE patrol "Give me a target, Cash, weapons hot" the pilot tells the astromech directly behind her cockpit. The S-foils open and the snub-nosed fighter take an aggressive line towards a TIE formation. The woman behind the controls issues no warning, no call of surrender or call to battle. In a direct line charge towards the lead TIE Interceptor, she can feel the lock even before the tone goes positive. Red laser fire races in succession from the S-foil tips. One, Three, Two, Four, as the angle leads the Fighter toward flying into the shots. Line Captain Jal'Dana Rall, call sign Vapor has just started lesson two, and Razor Squadron has no idea. '' Jal'Dana on SF-6810 rolls a 32 for her STARSHIP GUNNERY skill. roll!'' '' Dante on SF-10978 rolls a 15 for her STARFIGHTER PILOTING skill. roll!'' ''' ' "Yeah..I'm ready.." Liza says with a slight pout to her voice over having to do a patrol after the other day's excitement. Her disappointment soon turns to confusion over some readings and she finds herself hunching over her controls to look at her sensors. "Holy cra...What's going on?" She looks back up and winces as she breaks to the right, slightly. "Alright! Seems like the cakewalk is over." She holds off on shooting as she is busy trying to get a grasp of what's happening, the young pilot too wary of screwing up...who knows..this might be training...right? ' ' Flying up behind Razor squadron in a pattern they all knew to be that of one where they were just being monitored and rated on performance, Krieg keeps his flight profile very benign. That is just up until Rall opens fire on the squadron right out of a hyperspace jump; power and precision at its finest. His own weapons being armed and having a good amount of time to look at the formation he has a good lock moments later, targetting not the lead craft but the craft to the rear. Depressing the trigger he keeps alert, taking his time to manipulate his flight controls and really teach his pilots a lesson in defeating ambushes while on patrol. '' Krieg on SF-5085 rolls a 19 for his STARSHIP GUNNERY skill. roll!'' '' Liza on SF-10994 rolls a 22 for her STARFIGHTER PILOTING skill. roll!'' ''' ' "Good," Dante says simply to Alpha-4 before her sensors pick up the enemy craft followed by the inbound laser fire that impacts against her shields and takes them down in that one swift blow. She wastes no time in excitable swearing, simply rolling sharply to the side and calling out, "Shields down, breaking right. Concentrate fire power on enemy target and sweep system for additional assets," she adds over the comm. Her eyes narrow as she sees Alpha-4 being fired on and gets an inkling of what's happening, a wry grin of respect forming on her face even as she continues to roll to the right and away from the X-wing. ''' ' "Damnit.." Molokai mutters as she's forced to break 'formation' to keep from getting hit, her body suddenly trembling as the adrinaline starts to pump through her body. A quick glance back behind her gets her to shake her head, apparently in displeasure, the gesture for her alone as no one else could possibly see her unless they were very close to her ship. "Alpha 1, what are my orders? Do I shoot or...?" She leaves it hanging as she figures no one would possibly want her to shoot at her 'foe'. But still, best to ask. For now she just keeps flying. ''' ' The red lasers had found there mark with timed precision and Jal'Dana's astromech Crash blurts and whistled at the positive results. Jal'Dana couldn't help but wonder how the Rebel pilots flew with the constant chatter. Still the Imperial Ace watched her HUD, tracking the movements of the 'enemy' Interceptors as if the Droid had said nothing. "Keep the shields rotating, but I want all the power I can get to thrusters, I need the speed" Compared to the craft she was used to flying, this beast was a slug, but a true pilot can feel what each ship can give them. Jal'Dana's sensors registered Krieg's opening slavo, and a small smile formed on her lips. "Open a channel to Raptor One" and then seconds later, "Basher, Vapor.You have the ball" And then on the Squadron frequency for Razor, she says in her raspy cold tone. "You can run, but try and show me something I don't knowyou'd better shoot for a kill, I am" and with that, Jal'Dana breaks off her attack on Alex's craft, trading with Krieg and lacing the breaking profile of Alpha 4. linking up her fire, the shots go out in twos. First from S-Foils 1 and 3 then S-foils 2 and 4. '' Jal'Dana on SF-6810 rolls a 22 for her STARSHIP GUNNERY skill. roll!'' '' Liza on SF-10994 rolls a 14 for her STARFIGHTER PILOTING skill. roll!'' ' ' Disappointed in her breaking and not returning fire, Krieg was going to teach them a lesson. Their enemy was always changing or looking like something different. If they wanted to be the best they needed to act and take down anything that was not friendly to them. The were here to be the finest instruments of war the Empire has ever created. Noting they have not engaged him he snap rolls, following the precise movements of Alpha-1, the squadron leader. It was a perfect breakt to the right with her, almost as if he heard her call it out. Activating the comm channel to Rall he replies back, "Vapor, Basaher. Tag." Their radio work was like their flight, seemless, fast, efficient, and sickening lethal. On the Razor Freq a low evil laugh is emitted - "Muahaha... don't be scared now." It was in that instant in lead pursuit of Dante he kicks out another salvo. '' Krieg on SF-5085 rolls a 22 for his STARSHIP GUNNERY skill. roll!'' '' Dante on SF-10978 rolls a 13 for her STARFIGHTER PILOTING skill. roll!'' ''' ' "Weapons free, Molokai," Dante states via comm, "give as good as you get," she continues, speaking in ship-to-ship only, not broadcasting freely. "Do the unexpected," she suggests even as she eyes the control panel briefly at the low laugh and following comment. For some reason that only brings another grin to her face, despite the fact that another round of fire arcs towards her TIE, the lack of shields certainly not making for a fun ride. The TIE shudders at the impact and there's a snap hiss inside the cockpit as the wiring has a fit and the display that would track the status of the shields decides to give up the ghost and make the console flicker for a moment. "Oh no you don't," Dante retorts as she thumps her hand on the console, holds her breath, and is rewarded by the display screens lighting up again. "That's my girl," she says simply before abandoning all pretense of structured combat. She hauls abruptly back on the controls, spinning her fighter around and opening fire as soon as she's aimed in the right direction, holding down the trigger to keep firing even as she tries to sling herself into the best position. '' Dante on SF-10978 rolls a 16 for her STARSHIP GUNNERY skill. roll!'' '' Krieg on SF-5085 rolls a 28 for his STARFIGHTER PILOTING skill. roll!'' ''' ' "Gladly..." She growls a bit in reply to the orders given and she pulls her ship around, trying to get the other enemy (Jal'Dana) in her sights. Liza is not very nice when pushed too far and right now is not exception, even if she was only hit once by the other ship. The Sarian waits until she has what she's hoping is a good lock before pulling her trigger, the shots aimed for the ship's left foils. '' Liza on SF-10994 rolls a 20 for her STARSHIP GUNNERY skill. roll!'' '' Jal'Dana on SF-6810 rolls a 24 for her STARFIGHTER PILOTING skill. roll!'' ' ' It had been years since Krieg and Dana had really flow together, but those pilots that live long enough to be considered Veterans in the TIE corps had a swagger about them, and those that had flown before shields flew with an aggressive streak that was unmatched. It was that aggressiveness that kept pilots like Banger and vapor alive. It was that aggressiveness the Line Captain and Commodore wanted in the pilots of Razor squadron. As the second TIE's shields absorbed the X-wing's punishment, Jal'Dana pressed the attack. On The Open channel she scolded the Pilot Officer and Squadron Leader, "Run, you run? Is this the metal that our pilots are made out of now? I can see all your moves. Break right, reform up on your leader's wing. Even now, your wingman is trying to spin around" Again Jal'Dana will switch targets with Krieg, this rotation of lead and chase keeps the pair out of harms way, and confuses the enemy from picking a solid target. One covering for the other and both attacking the targets. As they switch, Alpha 4 sends a line of fire behind the X-wing, as if to prove Dana's point. Locking in on Alpha 1 again, she fires just one shot, as if taunting the Squad leader. '' Jal'Dana on SF-6810 rolls a 28 for her STARSHIP GUNNERY skill. roll!'' '' Dante on SF-10978 rolls a 19 for her STARFIGHTER PILOTING skill. roll!'' ' ' Finally getting a response Krieg grins a little, though it took them far too long to realize the threat. The confusion was setting in, and it was exactly the sort of manuever Rall and he had in mind. Seeing Dante's shots was almost a letdown for him as he knew moments before exactly what was going to happen. It was almost like it played out in his mind before it happened, the shots going wide and astray. Snapping about in another random tag team manuever he calls Rall, "Vapor, Banger. Let's give them a real scare." Dropping in hot and fast he rolls inverted to Liza's craft and opens up a stream of fire, this time not passing harmlessly away but coming close to scraping their solar panels against each other. Close enough to lock eyes. '' Krieg on SF-5085 rolls a 24 for his STARSHIP GUNNERY skill. roll!'' '' Liza on SF-10994 rolls a 27 for her STARFIGHTER PILOTING skill. roll!'' ''' ' Dante's fighter is getting a bit cooked, not quite enough to stick a fork in it and call it done, but more shots like that and it's going to be 'Done' a lot faster than she'd like. She narrows her eyes at the display and since breaking and running isn't going to work, and she can't rely on her shields to take the brunt of the weapons assault, she leans forward slightly in her seat and changes tactics. "Molokai, watch yourself, I'm coming in on your six," she says a bare moment before shifting her course accordingly and dives at the Commodore's fighter instead, opening fire in the process but prepared to use her ship like a battering ram again, if necessary. '' Dante on SF-10978 rolls a 24 for her STARSHIP GUNNERY skill. roll!'' '' Krieg on SF-5085 rolls a 41 for his STARFIGHTER PILOTING skill. roll!'' ' ' ' It's with some difficulty that Molokai manages to dodge Krieg's volley, the younger pilot somehow pulling off a rolling manuver that puts him in range once she banks a bit more to the left. She sees Dante's shot miss big time and she can't help but to stare slightly, the shock causing her to hesitate marginally. "Alpha 1...try for the second enemy, if you're able," she suggests. "I want to take a shot at him." Gritting her teeth, she slips herself around so that she's in what she hope's is her superior officer's blind spot before she takes a potshot at him. '' Liza on SF-10994 rolls a 11 for her STARSHIP GUNNERY skill. roll!'' '' Krieg on SF-5085 rolls a 17 for his STARFIGHTER PILOTING skill. roll!'' ' '' Watching Dante attempt what Krieg and Dana had been doing cause a slight frown to form on Jal'Dana lips. "We expect this mimicking what works?" the open channel radios to the pair. "And crashing into him isn't a great plan either. I'll just leave your wingman alone." Breaking hard right, the X-wing cuts a path right in front of Alpha 1, a clear shot at the Underside of the snub-nosed fighter. The hard move is meant to freeze the TIE pilot, and make her re-thing what ever it was she had set on. The sharp acrobatics of the X-wing also brought Jal'Dana combat display smack dab on Alpha 4. This chris-crossing was about to get serious. If the two TIE pilots wouldn't wise up and gang up on a single target, she and Krieg would. It was a basic ploy, sandwiching the enemy craft between the pair. The X-wing had blocked Alpha 1 from a direct line on Krieg, now it was flying right up Alpha 4's nose, while Krieg had the Aft. "All shields forward, lest play chicken" Dana said to her R-4. the droid's moaning response covered by the sound of the X-wing's lasers erupting. '' Jal'Dana on SF-6810 rolls a 30 for her STARSHIP GUNNERY skill. roll! '' Liza on SF-10994 rolls a 25 for her STARFIGHTER PILOTING skill. roll!'' ' ' Sacrificing actually hitting the other interceptor, Krieg takes the opportunity to stare down the younger pilot from the vantage point of his own craft, bringing their combat to a very personal level. As the younger pilot breaks away from Krieg he pulls a snap roll pull into another level of attack, monitoring their foe's movements and keeping his situational awareness up. On an open freq he calls, "Keep your friends close, but your enemy closer." Rall's comments had much more humor to him, however. There was an amlost zen feeling to the entire battle and he could actually almost feel the chaos of their movements. Cutting through it all were the his and Rall's movements, deftly defying every angle the younger pilots could throw back at them. Cosolidating and concentrating firepower would be their friend, it was their job to prevent that from happening. Rolling and skirting easily outside of the fire the Razors presented he mentally lines up the next manuever to get Alpha-4 in his sights (liza) and locks with good tone; another searing shot leaps out from his guns. '' Krieg on SF-5085 rolls a 24 for his STARSHIP GUNNERY skill. roll!'' '' Liza on SF-10994 rolls a 26 for her STARFIGHTER PILOTING skill. roll!'' ' ' Of all the things to do in combat, fall back and redeploy in another direction is simply fancy lingo for 'fall back and get some breathing room while coming up with another plan of action'. To that end, Dante speaks quietly to Molokai via com, her voice low, clear, and intent. "Break for the atmosphere of Bespin, follow my lead," she says. Already rotating to the best possible approach angle Dante engages her ships engines and breaks for the planet at top speed, "remember that practice that almost made you toss your cookies?" she adds, "now it's going to come in handy." ''' ' The orders come in the middle of the little lovely ballet Molokai's in the middle of with Krieg while she's still recovering from being shot and hit by the other pilot, her shields holding albeit probably just barely at this point. "Alright, Alpha 1.." The rookie turns until the planet's in sight and she pushes her throttle foward fully, gunning it as she takes Dante's lead. This is bad as it puts her tail end right out there for their 'foes' to shoot at, but hey. Gotta do what you gotta do. ''' ' Again with the running, to prove a point about running in any direction other than to the safety of a Cruiser that can lay down flack to keep fighters at bay Jal'Dana lights up the pair with her missiles, the piercing tone echoing in the helmets of the Razor squadron pilots. All and all it wasn't a bad plan, as TIE Interceptors handled better in the Atmosphere, but Jal'Dana wasn't going to let them make it. "Basher, cover the out vector in case they break, I have a shot" She knew she didn't need to tell him, but it was a force of habit. "Divert power to engines, drop all shields but the front arc." Jal'Dana told her astromech. Having kept the bead on Alpha 4, she let a full volley go, all four laser at once. Red lines driving towards the aft of the fleeing TIE. '' Jal'Dana on SF-6810 rolls a 18 for her STARSHIP GUNNERY skill. roll!'' '' Liza on SF-10994 rolls a 16 for her STARFIGHTER PILOTING skill. roll!'' ' ' Seeing Rall's move along with his has him shooting off enough to one side keeping Alpha-4's movement in at least one line of fire, but it wasn't his. Perhaps they would note that one did not have to take all the glory from the field as long as the team accomplishes what it sets out to do. Knowing that the two might do something desperate like ramming he keeps tabs on their movements, but his first line of defense was to be that much faster than them. Bringing his craft around to bear he watches Rall dive in and moves out of the way of Alpha-1, preoccupying their guns as much as possible to give Rall the targetting advantage, though this time around they don't fire but instead head for the atmosphere. On the open channel his voice comes across with scorn, "Do not run from your enemy, you will perish. What you gain by falling back is lost twice over by what the enemy will press." Switching power from nonessential systems and some from his sheilds he kicks in the engine speed, pressing forward to attack them. He quickly replies, "Wilco Vapor." He keeps his craft at max speed, getting a good lock himself and firing but also depleteing his laser power to a few shots left at this configuration - a risk he was willing to take. '' Krieg on SF-5085 rolls a 26 for his STARSHIP GUNNERY skill. roll!'' '' Liza on SF-10994 rolls a 20 for her STARFIGHTER PILOTING skill. roll!'' ''' ' Dante again ignores the taunt via the comm, though it's a lesson learned for the next time, as she nears the atmosphere. She slides to the side a bit to merge her sensor reading with that of Molokai's, hoping to blur the imaging and confuses the targeting sensors as she sees her wing mate take damage. "Damage read out?" she asks, curving her fighter around in a tight spin that puts her in position between Molokai, acting as a shield while opening fire as soon as she's in position. "Follow my lead, fire on the Commodore than shift target to the Captain," she says simply while doing exactly that. '' Dante on SF-10978 rolls a 26 for her STARSHIP GUNNERY skill. roll!'' '' Krieg on SF-5085 rolls a 24 for his STARFIGHTER PILOTING skill. roll!'' ''' ' "Damn...Looks like we're going to have to come up with something else, ma'am. I'm in no shape to try and hit the atmosphere. Taken some pretty bad hits, it seems. But I can still fight." She can't help but to sigh slightly in annoyance...this is not going to look good, especially after the battle the other day...and she finds herself slightly upset at herself for letting Kreig and Jal'Dana get her flustered to the point of near-worthlessness. But, she is finally starting to recover her wits and, as Dante fires at Krieg, she does the same. '' Liza on SF-10994 rolls a 21 for her STARSHIP GUNNERY skill. roll!'' '' Krieg on SF-5085 rolls a 20 for his STARFIGHTER PILOTING skill. roll!'' ''' ' Finally the pair scores a hit, even if it is a glancing blow and Jal'Dana reacts like a good wingman should in order to shake off her partner's attacker, she changes the altitude of her own fighter, bringing the gun sights up and onto Alpha 1. In the back of her mind, Dana knows Alpha 4 isn't out of the fight fully, but as damaged as she is and with the Squad leader's shields down, it's time to cut the head off the beast. The body will dies shortly there after. "Break hard right, banger. I have the shot" A pair is always better than a lone fighter trying for it's own glory. And Dana's move to protect Krieg is as ingrained as taking breath. With in seconds she has a lock on Alpha 1, and again fires in succession, One, two, three, four scarlet lasers looking for their on Alex's hull. '' Jal'Dana on SF-6810 rolls a 37 for her STARSHIP GUNNERY skill. roll!'' '' Dante on SF-10978 rolls a 15 for her STARFIGHTER PILOTING skill. roll!'' '' '' There was always a price to pay for putting oneself on the edge of any manuever, and for his it was to be hit by the return fire of the two fighters as they break from their run into the atmosphere. As they were successful at preventing them from entering, he wasn't fast enough to get reconfigured and dodge their combined fire - what they were trying to teach them from the begining. Though the younger one was pretty badly damaged, Krieg continues to snap roll around and put the finishing touches on them for they had forgotten about Rall who was even now lashing out once again. Getting the signal he says nothing in return but "Breakaway" as he rolls and pulls with maximum effort, the acceleration forces slamming him back as the inertial dampeners struggle to keep up with the pull. Rolling out of the turn he locks onto Liza and opens fire, hoping to seal the deal. '' Krieg on SF-5085 rolls a 24 for his STARSHIP GUNNERY skill. roll!'' '' Liza on SF-10994 rolls a 22 for her STARFIGHTER PILOTING skill. roll!'' ''' ' Dante is making some low voiced comments in colorful language that cannot be used in polite company. Fortunately, she's doing it in the silence of her fighter and not on the comm channel as not only does that so-recently repaired fuse fry itself again but her console goes entirely dead - again. She swears louder as she feels the impact of Rall's weapons doing the rest of the work that cooks her fighter and renders her both sensor blind but unable to maneuver but for a few twitchy thruster motions to the left. Literally, dead, blind and twitching. Just the way she likes to take her fighter home. ''' ' Seen Dante being taken out, Liza can't help but to groan slightly and very loudly over the comms but, like her father before her, she doesn't know the meaning of the words 'quit' or 'surrender', a fact that saw her put into the medbay while she was still a cadet. "Alright...let's dance.." she says while she tries to position herself to where she can take a shot at Jal, all while trying to stay away from Krieg if possible. '' Krieg on SF-5085 rolls a 24 for his STARSHIP GUNNERY skill. roll!'' '' Liza on SF-10994 rolls a 22 for her STARFIGHTER PILOTING skill. roll!'' '' Jal'Dana on SF-6810 rolls a 22 for her STARFIGHTER PILOTING skill. roll!'' ''' '' '' With Alpha 1 dead in space, Jal'Dana's X-wing races past the prone fighter. It has been a successful sortie in that at least this pair of pilots will bring a new sense of perspective into battle with who ever they faced. The futile attempts of Alpha 4 to score a hit are absorbed by the X-wings shields easily, the TIE being a the limit of it's effective range and having damage to the power system. Arcing the nose around on the X-wing, Jal'Dana races past the limping Interceptor piloted by 'Slush'. It was a good callsign, as this pilot didn't quite have ice in her veins, but did have some fight. "Banger, this is Vapor. I'm calling no joy. The field is ours, you can give the stand down order as you see fit" The X-wing goes about a standard contain pattern around the damaged pair of foes. This was the Fleet Commodore's field, and unit. The Line captain was just a guest instructor. ' ' Getting a good hit on Alpha-4 Krieg is satisfied that he and Rall have set out and accomplished what they intended. Though he admires Liza's actions of fighting until the last possible moment, he notes it is merely an act of futility and that they were not fighting to the death, not today. Flying out and up to where Rall was and showing what it really meant to be flying in formation a mere meter away from the other craft he calls on the comm, all channels. "All craft, Terminate. Stand-down and report back to base, launch recovery craft." Focusing now on the comm for their small group he says, "We are honored to have you here with us Vapor, Chance and Slush have passed their first trial by fire and I do think they have learned something. Report back to the Inquisitor Razor squadron and be ready to stand up the new training regime. Watch now as Vapor and I demonstrate the proper wingtip formation." Hitting the computer controls for their vectors back home he flies with Vapor in perfect formation, a good day for all.